Japan Australia Pages

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Picture of the Week Children’s Day in Japan

Children's Day or kodomo-no-hi is a Japanese National Holiday during Golden Week which takes place on the 5th of May. While it is a holiday for children in general, it is primarily for boys (girls have a day of their own on the 3rd of March called (Hina Matsuri).

Children’s Day is a Japanese boy’s festival and is a day to pray for the healthy growth of boys. It is Japanese tradition for families with boys to display carp streamers (koinobori) outside their houses around this holiday. Carp are believed to symbolize successes in children’s lives. Samurai dolls called gogatsu ningyo (May Dolls) are also put on display in homes.

In my home because we have a son we display kabuto (Japanese military helmet worn by samurai). Many people have these as a seasonal decoration displayed during Children’s Day. Kabuto is displayed to express hope that each boy in the family will grow up healthy and strong. We bought quite an expensive one but really like having it displayed during Children’s Day.